Miner electrocuted at mine tunnel

ITOGON, Benguet, Philippines – A contractual miner from Dupax del Sur in Nueva Vizcaya died, after he was electrocuted inside in one of the mine tunnel in this town, Thursday afternoon.

The body of Junjun Akulis, 27, temporarily residing in Otek, Ucab, Itogon, was retrieved Thursday afternoon after he was reportedly electrocuted while fixing lighting materials in the tunnel they are working on.

Itogon councilor Alexander Fianza said Akulis went ahead of his colleagues mining a tunnel some 350 meters below. After half an hour, colleagues Macario Palpal and Doming Compalas noticed no movement inside the tunnel that alarmed them.

Several other accidents have occurred earlier in various mine tunnels and abandoned mine tunnels being contracted out to small-scale mining cooperatives and associations in Itogon that has already claimed dozens of lives.

The large scale mining sector has blamed small scale mining industry in the country for the negative image of mining taking into consideration various accidents involving small scale mines and environmental violations.